Endless conveyer poultry feeder



July 13, 1954 G. T. MARKEY 2,683,439

ENDLESS CONVEYER POULTRY FEEDER Filed Sept. 21, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 17LNVENT0R.

GEO/2G5 5) Fl G. MARK I BY I, 1071.

i A TTOE/V EY July 13, 1954 e. T. MARKEY 2,683,439

ENDLESS CONVEYER POULTRY FEEDER Filed Sept. 21, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 2INVENTOR.

G502 GE 7 NA QKEY BY I ATTORNEY July 13, 1954 G. T. MARKEY 2,683,439

ENDLESS CONVEYER POULTRY FEEDER Filed Sept. 21, 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet Z 5IN V EN TOR.

GE 02 GE 7? MAE/(E7 AT TOIQNEY G. T. MARKEY ENDLESS CONVEYER POULTRYFEEDER July 13, 1954 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Sept. 21 1950 F lG. 8

- INVENTOR.

GEO/20E T ARKET ATTOE'IYEY July 13, 1954 G. T. MARKEY 2,633,439

ENDLESS CONVEYER POULTRY FEEDER Filed Sept. 21 1950 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Fla. /9

INVENTOR. GEOPGE 7. MAEKEY ATTOQNEY Patented July 13, 1954 ENDLESSOONVEYER POULTRY FEEDER George T. Markey, Fort Atkinson, Wis., assignorto James Manufacturing Company, Fort Atkinson, Wis., a company ofWisconsin Application September 21, 1950, Serial No. 186,079

6 Claims.

The present invention relates to a motor driven poultry feeder adaptedto feed the mash or rain or a combination of each to the poultry from asingle storage hopper and through an endless trough having a conveyorchain for conveying the feed from the hopper through the trough and withmeans for maintaining a desired level of the feed in the trough.

In addition to the next above statement, an important object of thepresent invention is to provide a clock controlled timing device adaptedto cause the conveyor chain and feed stirring devices to moveintermittently and also at predetermined, spaced apart intervals.

Another object of the present invention is to provide perches whendesired on opposite sides of the endless trough and being supported onthe trough supporting means. Otherwise an object is to provide a simplerlower supporting means, whereby the birds may feed from the trough Whilestanding on the floor.

An important object of the present invention is to provide a device ofthe character that can be manufactured at low cost and is economical,easily operated, durable and not apt to get out of order.

To these and other useful ends my invention consists of parts,combinations of parts or their equivalents and mode of operation ashereinafter described and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawingsin which:

Fig. 1 is a transverse vertical section through the center of my feedhopper adapted to serve an endless feeder trough.

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the hopper shown in Figure 1illustrating the driving motor and a fraction of the trough partiallysectioned using the elevated trough mounting as illustrated in Figure 8.

Fig. 3 is a top view reduced in size and illustrating a completeassembly, the perches and trough supports not being shown.

Fig. 4 is a fractional enlarged view of the hopper, trough and mechanismfor driving the stirring device in the hopper.

Fig. 5 is an end sectional view taken on lines 55 of Figure 4.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged top view showing a fraction of the hopper, themotor attached thereto, and a fraction of the trough illustrating themechanism for driving the feeder chain.

Fig. 7 is a reduced perspective bottom View of the hopper illustratingthe manually controlled means for regulating the flow of material fromthe hopper into the trough; also illustrating the driver connection tothe shaft that extends into the top of the hopper for operating thestirring means shown in Figure 1.

Fig. 8 is a transverse section through the trough illustrating the highsupport therefor, and the perches thereon.

Fig. 9 is an enlarged top view of a fraction of the trough feeder chain.

Fig. 10 is an enlarged side elevational view of a fraction of the chainas shown in Figure 9.

Fig. 11 is an end sectional view of the feeder chain taken on dottedline Illi of Figure 10.

Fig. 12 is an enlarged end view of the feeder trough taken on line 8-8of Figure 3.

Fig. 13 is a cut-away top view of a length of feeder trough.

Fig. 14 illustrate a feeder trough support having a length so the birdsmay feed from the trough without perches.

Fig. 15 is a top view of the covering for the corner sections of thetrough.

Fig. 16 is a top view of the corner section with the lid removed.

Fig. 17 is a sectional view taken on line |T-l1 of Figure 16.

Fig. 18 illustrates an enlarged chick guard or closure of the trough atthe corner section.

Fig. 19 illustrates an enlarged feeder chain hold down bracket.

Fig. 20 illustrates the reciprocating connection between the operatingcrank 52 (see Figure 6) and the crank 39 (see Figure 7) which operatesthe vertical shaft in the feed hopper.

Figs. 21 and 22 illustrates the brackets shown in Figure 20.

As thus illustrated reference character A designates the feed hopper inits entirety. Reference character B designates the feed trough in itsentirety. Reference character C designates in their entireties the feedtrough corner brackets.

In a room equipped with my invention the nests, roosts, and othernecessary appertenances may be advantageously positioned regardless ofthe width and length of the room, the hopper being in positionpreferably near the entrance of the room for convenience, and the lengthand width of the trough assembly being made to suit the size of theroom.

Hopper A is provided with a peaked lid 25 as illustrated to cover andprevent the birds from roosting thereon. A brace member 26 is secured tothe hopper into which the upper end of a shaft 2'! is journaled, andmember 26 may also act as a support for lid 25.

This shaft extends through the hopper and is journaled in the bottom 26'of the hopper (see Figure 4), and having secured to its protruding endan arm 28 (see Figure '7) with a slot 29 at its free end which isengaged by a reciprocating pin 30 (see Figure 7) for the purpose ofoscillating shaft 27. The bottom 26 of hopper A is provided with anopening 3! shown by dotted lines in Figure '7.

I provide a slide valve 32 having an extension 33, which extends to theexterior of the hopper so valve 32 may be manually moved for regulatingthe flow of feed throughzopening: 3|.

I provide means for stirring the mash in the hopper and for causing themash to'feedevenly through opening 3| as follows:

A tube 35 rotatably surrounds shaft 21 and'has on its upper end aratchet'BB. Shaft. 27. hasasecured thereto a crank 31 with a pin 38 onits free end. A ratchet dog 39 is at one end pivoted on pin 38, its freeend being adapted to engage teeth "All on'cmember 33 ratchet like,isothat tube'35will be intermittently revolved around the: shaft. 2 1. Atthe bottom of tube 35 .I secure an armed spider -4I. Theprojecting armsi2' are positioned adjacent bottom member 25 andextend over opening 3 I,thus to agitate and. stir the feed and cause vit toifiow evenly throughthis opening.

In order to prevent thebanking or clogging or caking of the-mash in thehopper, I provide a leveling member which in its 'entiretyis desig-"-nated by reference character D. This member is slidably mounted on thetube 35 and a bar 33 extends parallel to tube 35 and is secured theretoat opposite ends and agitates' the feed from top to bottom of the hopperand extends through;

member D so as to act as a driver for this member.

Member D has preferably four depending plates These plates are angled sothey will ride on the surface of 4 the mash, and

feed the mash toward-.thecenter .ofthe hopper.

In order to cause the mash to feed-:unifor-m1y downwardly in thehopper,.I provide two chains 46-46, their outer ends being .oonnected tomembers 44 and their inner-ends being connected by a loop 41 whichloosely surrounds. tube-35and bar 43.

Thus it will be seen that the feed-will be caused to move downwardly. enmasse and will be fed uniformly through opening -3l into the feedtroughB which is endless consists of a series of .lengths as shown inFigure 13 and described in column 5, and extends under the hoppenandunder opening 3 i.

.When it is necessary torefill hopper-A, member D is lifted to the topof the hopper,and is held. in its lifted position by dog-48. After. thehopper has been refilled, member D is released and permitted to liefreely on the feed. Trough B, it will be noted, is somewhat to one sideof the center of hopper A (see Figure Iprovide plates 49-49 toaccommodate this position.

Referring now to Figures 2 and 6, an electric motor 50 is, in anyconvenient way, secured to member A. A. speed reducing gear (not shown)is arranged to drive a crank shaft 5|, this shaft having a crank 52. Aconnecting rod or dog 53 is at one end rotatably mounted on crank 52,the free end of which is adapted to engage notches in the trough chainas will hereinafter appear.

A bar 56 is slidably mounted on member A and having a U-shaped member 51vertically secured 'i'travel. Thusbar 156 will be reciprocated and andTrough-B- is supported by means of members 6969, the upper ends of whichare secured to the upper dance of the trough (see Figure 8). I'provideacross member '13 secured to members 133 about asshown and having perchesli-li ...upon w-hich'thexbi-rds stand for eating from the trough. I alsosupply a supporting plate I! for the trough. Thus it will be seen thatthe trough and perches will be firmly supported on the fioor.

My novel conveyor chain comprises links 75, having a'shape at'theirfront end as at '13, El

and 18, with toothed notches 18' in their upper sides, which are adaptedto be engaged by dog 53, the dog operating to move the chain forward thedistance between notches at every revolution of crank 52.

Referring again to the front end of chain link 75, it will be notedthat-member it is an extension of member '35, and that the space betweenmembers 15 and it is cut away on opposite'sides as at 'I8T8. Aportion-8D is cut away from .member 15 terminatingat its rear'as at 8|.

Thus it will be seen that the chain is completed by holding the frontendof a link at right angles to therear of another link, so member maybe inserted into opening 8B, and then the links 'moved parallel to eachother as shown in Figure 10, thus to form a vertically arrangedhingedjoint between links, whereby the links will permit the chain to travelto the left around an idler wheelat the corners of the trough.

Itwill be seen that members it and l! form transversely-extendingpaddles for engaging the g I feed and moving it forward and around thecorners of the trough at every revolution of shaft 5 I.

.Iwill now describe my novel means for connecting the ends of the troughsections to each I other-at each corner. A bracket as (see Figures 16and 17) preferably cast iron, is provided and adapted to receive theends of trough sections at 9! and 92. -A plate 33 is adapted to besecured to bracket Biland a trench 94 is provided in bracket whichintersects the bottom trench of the troughs-and i curved on a radiuswith a pin ,which. is secured to member '90.

I mountxan idler wheel 96 on pin 95 and hold it in its lowest positionpreferably by a cotter pin 91. Idler 36 is provided with a transverselyroughened surface 93 on which the outer edges of members 1! ride, thusthe chain will be freely carried by idler 96 from one trough to another,and theflange formed by member 88 traveling close to or on the bottom oftrench 94 will, to a large extent, prevent the feed from moving inwardlyas it passes around the corner.

Member 96 has preferably four spokes 99 each of which have a forwardlyand downwardly extending flange HOB, which will act to move any feed ormash that may accumulate in the space around the spokes upwardly andoutwardly as .indicated by arrow in Figure 17. This movement isencouraged by a narrow flange HH which depends from plate-93' asindicated by dotted lines in'Figure 15.

In this construction it will be seen that there will be an opening ofconsiderable size under plate 93 at the end of the troughs. To blockthis opening against small chick entering, I provide a hinged bracketI02 which extends down into the trough terminating in a runner shapeextension [03, which will ride on the chain freely and tend to smoothdown the mash.

Another bracket I04 is attached to plate 93 and under guard [04 at theentrance end of plate 93 to hold down the conveyor chain.

Under some conditions it is desirable to position the feed troughs closeto the floor so the birds can eat out of the trough while standing onthe floor. For this purpose, I provide supports shown in Figure 14, eachhaving a pedestal I20 with spaced apart vertical bars l-2I which areshaped and secured together at their tops as at 122, bars I2l each havespaced holes I23 for the reception of a bolt I24 on which the troughlies. Thus the trough may be adjusted to different vertical positionsfor an obvious purpose.

It Will be noted that the top edge of one end of each length of troughas shown in Figure 13 is cut-away as at 26'26' to allow it to telescopeinto the next length of trough. The bent-in top edges of the trough actsto prevent billing the feed out of the trough and onto the floor.

It will be understood that my conveyor chain is caused to move veryslowly because of the reduction gearing between motor 50 and shaft 5|,and for the same reason, the stirring means in member A will turn veryslowly. However, in devices of the character, for obvious reasons, it isdesirable to use a clock controlled switch (not shown) as recited in thepreamble of this specification. Such controlling devices are so wellknown that it is not thought necessary to show and describe the device.

I have shown the preferred embodiment of my invention. Clearly manyminor detail changes can be made in the design shown without departingfrom the spirit and scope of my invention, as recited in the appendedclaims.

I claim: 7

1. A poultry feeder of the character described comprising, a feedhopper, a number of feed troughs connected together at their ends toform an endless feed trough, a portion of one of said troughs beingpositioned under said feed hopper, an opening in the bottom of said feedhopper positioned over the adjacent trough, an endless conveyor chainpositioned in said endless feed trough, the links of said conveyor chainhaving upwardly extending notches, rotatably mounted stirring means insaid feed hopper having other stirring means attached thereto andpositioned adjacent the upper side of the bottom of said feed hopperadapted to urge the feed into said opening, a motor associated with saidhopper having a slow speed crank shaft operatively connected thereto, aconnecting rod operatively connected at one end to the crank of saidcrank shaft, its other end adapted to engage said notches ratchet likefor moving the chain forward at every revolution of said crank shaft, abar slidably mounted under said hopper having an operating connectionwith the crank of said 6 crank shaft with connecting means forintermittently turning said stirring means.

2. A device as recited in claim 1 including, said conveyor chaincomprising links adapted to be detachably secured together with the flatsides of the links arranged vertically, their front ends havinghorizontally outwardly projecting paddles for moving the feed in thetrough.

3. A device as recited in claim 1 including, said endless trough beingformed into four separate sections, their ends being secured together bymeans of brackets shaped to register with the ends of said troughs andform a curved connection between the ends of the trough for said chain,means attached to said brackets adapted to guide said chain from onetrough to the other.

4. A device as recited in claim 1 including, said corner bracket havinga removable cover plate and means adapted to hold the chain from raisingout of position.

5. A device as recited in claim 1 including, said troughs havingoutwardly diverging side members, their tops being extended inwardly andupwardly and having spaced supporting means, comprising downwardlydiverging legs, their upper ends being adapted to be detachably securedto the troughs, transverse members secured to said legs a short distancebelow the troughs and extending a distance outwardly from the legs,perches mounted on said transverse members and parallel to the troughand a suitable distance therefrom as and for the purpose specified.

6. A device as recited in claim 1 including, said stirring meanscomprising a shaft, the lower end extending freely through the bottom ofsaid hopper, its upper end being freely mounted in the upper end of saidhopper, a tube rotatably mounted on said shaft and extending fromadjacent the bottom of said hopper to within a short distance of the topof said shaft, an arm secured to said shaft adjacent the upper end ofsaid tube, a ratchet secured to said tube and a dog hingedly mounted onthe end of said arm and adapted to engage said, ratchet, for impartingan intermittent rotating motion to the tube, a floating stirring meansslidably mounted on said tube and having an operating connection to thetube.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date 312,341 Duryea Feb. 17, 1885 871,469 Bliedung Nov. 19, 19071,427,553 Schwinger Aug. 29, 1922 1,896,096 Parker -1 Feb. 7, 19332,011,684 Martin Aug. 20, 1935 2,043,595 Raymond June 9, 1936 2,302,314Haggart Nov. 17, 1942 2,522,449 Inman Sept. 12, 1950 2,589,706 Kitson eta1 Mar. 18, 1952 2,600,869 Harkness et a1. June 17, 1952 OTHERREFERENCES Automatic Poultry Feeder Plan, Pennsylvania State CollegeBulletin, Progress Report No. 2, Agricultural School.

